Maxie Needs a New Bike
by Nefertiry
Summary: Max, Logan and Alec are planning a little scam which includes Xander's life insurance. But first they'll have to 'kill' an Immortal Xander. BuffyDA crossover
1. Alec Needs Money

**Title: Maxie Needs a New Bike **

**Author: Nefertiry**

**Summary: **Alec, Max and Logan are planning a little scam which includes Xander's life insurance. Their biggest problem is how to 'kill' Xander. And Xander is an Immortal… **Buffy/Dark Angel crossover + the concept of immortality from '**Highlander**'**

**Pairing: **Max/Xander.

**Disclaimer**: nothing is mine. Neither the characters of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', nor the characters of 'Dark Angel'. All rights belong to their respective owners.

**Author's Note. **Ok, the deal's like this. This story is in no way connected with other Buffy/DA crossover that I write. Actually, it's a response to UNTALENTEDTKK's challenge in the last chapter of his '**TF2 –And Then We All Threw Up'**. I liked the idea and decided to write it. If anyone wrote a fic with the same theme, then it'll be MY version. 

**Timeline**: early season 2 of DA, after a slightly AU-ish 'Proof of Purchase'. Some events will coincide with the events in the show; some won't (as the story is absolutely AU). Everything that happened to Xander is described in UNTALENTEDTKK's '**The Finals' series. Some things will coincide with the original's story line, some will not. (I'm picking up the storyline from ch. 4 of 'TF2…' and changing some things.)**

**Alec Needs Money**

_Crash_

_Friday night_

Alec was sitting at the bar and drinking his scotch. Actually, it was his fifth or sixth, but he didn't care much about that. He wanted to get drunk. That was why he had come to this bar – to get drunk, to get so plastered, so that he even wouldn't remember his name or designation number. Unfortunately, with his transgenic metabolism he would need way more scotch to drink himself into oblivion. Why was he doing this? The answer was simple. Max. Pain in his transgenic ass. She became the pain in his ass since the first moment they met. He was supposed to be her breeding partner; instead, she kicked him in the gut. 

Alec helped her get out of Manticore and get out of his life; instead, he was sent to bring Max to Renfro in exchange for the cure. How the heck was he supposed to know that the retrovirus, which was supposedly targeted to attack the DNA of 'Eyes Only', was really targeted at another person's DNA? And that guy, Xander, was way too weird. He didn't even cough when the virus attacked his immune system. And the virus was deadly, without the antidote the target wouldn't live even 24 hours. But no, not only didn't Xander die from the virus; he also didn't die from the bullet in the stomach. 

Alec wanted to leave the city right after Max and her freaky friends Logan and Xander returned from their mission 'Burn down Manticore and you'll get a lollypop'; instead, he was kept all tied up in Logan's bathroom for 24 hours and without any food. Even after Manticore burnt down did Max let him go? Nope, she just dragged him with her on another mission 'Save other transgenics from evil soldiers and get caught by those soldiers'. After she got caught, the saved transgenics, just a bunch of kids, wanted to go and save _her_. Alec knew that those kids would get killed and helped them rescue Max. Only after that she let him go his own way. 

But it was too early for him to cheer for getting rid of Max. 

_**Flashback**___

Alec woke up in an abandoned warehouse and found himself in a cage suspended from the ceiling. He looked around and saw the man, responsible for all this 'catch the transgenic' circus. 

"That was a very impressive display last night", said White, looking at Alec.

"Oh, it's so nice to have fans", smirked Alec.

"Tell me, 494, have you been in contact with this girl?" White showed the digital picture of Max.

"Nope", shook his head Alec.

"We know that you were breeding partners back at Manticore", insisted White.

Alec shrugged. "Well, it was just a summer fling."

"What about any other transgenics?" wondered White.

"I make it a point not to fraternize with automatons. They slow me down. So what are you? FBI? NSA?" said Alec mockingly.

"Let's just say that I've been sent to wipe out all evidence that Manticore ever existed, and leave it at that", said White smugly and said to a man standing nearby. "Make sure you take a DNA sample before you dispose of the body." 

"Wait. Killing me isn't gonna solve your problem", said Alec, grabbing the bars of the cage.

"You're right. I have to take out all of them", said White, standing with his back to Alec and waiting for the transgenic's next move.

"You gotta find 'em first. I can help", said Alec hastily, desperately clinging to the last thread of hope.

"Is that a fact?" White raised an eyebrow and turned to face Alec.

"Who better to hunt transgenics than another transgenic?" asked Alec, sighing inwardly with relief. 'White hasn't killed me yet. It's good. He'll need me', he thought.

"You expect me to believe that you would turn against your own kind?" White came up to the cage and stared at Alec.

"Try me" said firmly Alec, returning the gaze. 

_** End of flashback**  _

"Another one", said Alec to the bartender, showing his empty glass.

That son of a bitch White planted a microexplosive in the back of his neck and if Alec hadn't killed three transgenics during 24 hours his head would explode. 

The first transgenic was easy to kill…

_**Flashback**_

"Remind me once again. What are we doing here?" said Alec when he and Max were walking through the sewers.

"Those two guys said the saw someone like Joshua around here", replied Max. "I need to find him. He can't walk around like that, people might see him and we…"

"Yeah, don't continue. We don't need any necessary attention", Alec finished her thought.

"Pretty like that", nodded Max.

"So, what is the dog-boy up to?" asked Alec.

"He's looking for his Father, Sandeman. Joshua lives with Xander in Terminal City, so he found an old phone directory in one of the apartments. Joshua has been spotted in several places where people with the last name Sandeman live", said Max, looking around. "Ugh", she winced, seeing the bloody remains of something that apparently used to be a living being. 

"Something big took it out", noted Alec calmly. 

"No, not Joshua", Max shook her head.

"What, he wouldn't turn against his own kind?" asked Alec, looking at Max.

She wanted to answer but her pager beeped first. She looked at it. "It's Logan. I have to get a pay phone."

"Wait, wait, wait", said Alec, tossing her his cell phone. "Come into the twenty-first century, will ya?"

Max talked to Logan and said, turning to Alec. "Logan's got a lead. Come on."

"You go ahead", said Alec. "We can cover more ground if we split up."

"Right. Hit me up if you find him", said Max, giving him his phone.

"You got it", nodded Alec and went further. 

After wandering in the sewers for some time he looked at his watch. He had about 14 hours left. 'I gotta work fast if I want to live', he thought and suddenly heard somebody's voice. "Bongo, where are you, boy."

Alec peered around the corner and saw someone holding a dog in her hands and she was definitely going to snack on that poor dog. It was Bongo and he was scared as hell.

"You're not really gonna eat that, are ya?" said Alec to that thing.

She turned and growled at him. She looked like a panther and her face was covered with dark fur.

"Yeah, that's right, dinner bell's a-chiming. Come and get it", said Alec, taking fighting stance. 

After several minutes of struggle and one bitten arm, which was Alec's, he finally killed her and removed her barcode with the knife White had given to him.

"One down, two to go", murmured Alec, putting the barcode into a small notebook.

_**End of flashback **_

The second barcode wasn't hard to get. When Alec had 8 hours left he found a young transgenic. It was his second 'barcode' source. Too bad Alec didn't know how to find the third transgenic and time was running out.

_**Flashback**_

"So, I got two. I just need more time to get the third", said Alec, standing in front of White while he was looking at the barcodes in the notebook.

"We had an agreement", said White, looking at Alec.

"Just a few hours."

"That's not what I'm talking about. I told you to KILL them", barked White.

"Yeah, I did as you said", shrugged Alec.

White nodded to one of his men and he hit a button on the remote control. The floor of the cage, that was very familiar to Alec, opened. The young transgenic whose barcode Alec had cut out recently, dropped down dead.

"Someone let him outside an emergency room with a bandage on the back of his neck", hissed White with disgust.

"He was just a kid", replied Alec.

"You disappointed me. Now apparently you had no trouble with _whatever_ it was", White pointed at the panther woman's barcode. "But you couldn't kill one of your own. So now you're dead man."

"I can do it. Give me another chance", said Alec firmly.

White tilted his head and looked at Alec like he was some bug. "All right. I'll let him count against you final total. But you still owe me one more. Say 'thank you'."

"Thank you", said Alec through gritted teeth. "Can I have more time?"

"No, but you can have _this", White handed him a taser wand. "Maybe if you don't have to listen to them beg and scream, you can actually go through with it."_

If looks could kill, White would've been dead after the glance Alec had given him when he took the taser wand.

"Tick tock", smirked White.

Alec turned around and went to the door.

'5 hours of search and nothing, not even a lousy transgenic', grumbled Alec inwardly, walking the streets of Seattle. He looked at his watch – one hour and 5 minutes to live. But PtB must've been on his side as 5 minutes later he bumped into Max who was so busy reading some printout that jumped up when Aleñ spoke to her.

"Max."

"Alec, you scared me", gasped Max, stepping back.

"We need to talk", said Alec silently.

"Wish I could but I don't have time right now", shook her head Max.

Alec fingered the taser wand in his back pocket. "I'm afraid you're gonna have to make time", he sighed, approaching her. "It's a matter of life and death. Mine."

Max looked at him. "Alec, I don't know what your drama is but I got a lead on Joshua and I'm outta here, now."

"Joshua?" asked Alec. 'Great. 5 minutes ago I had 0 transgenics and now I'm gonna have two', he thought, seeing her barcode when she bent over her bike. "I'll go with you."

"Fine", nodded Max, hopping on the bike. "Ready?"

"Yeah", replied Alec, getting on the bike behind her.

Half an hour later Max stopped the bike next to a fence of some house. That was one of the addresses Logan had given to her. Those were the last two addresses where Sandeman could've lived.

"Huh, guess they tore the place down", said Max, getting off the bike. Then she saw a figure sitting amongst the bushes and rubble. "Joshua!"

Joshua turned and approached her. "Max."

She hugged him. "Hey big fella. Why did you run away? You could've told us that you wanted to find Father."

"I thought I could find him alone", said Joshua grimly. "I had the address", he showed her pages from the phone directory.

"These addresses are old", said Max softly. "That means that those people may not live there anymore."

"There's one more left", murmured Joshua, pointing at the paper.

"Okay, will check it out", smiled Max.

"I hate to be a killjoy but nobody's going anywhere", said Alec, pulling out the taser wand and zapping Max with it. She fell to the ground, shaking. Joshua growled and swung at Alec, but what could he do against Alec's X5 speed. Alec zapped him but that didn't stop the huge transgenic. Alec zapped him again and this time it worked. Joshua fell to the ground, gasping. Alec turned him over and looked at his neck.

"Where's your fucking barcode?" yelled Alec, seeing Joshua's bare neck. "Where is it?!!!!" 

"No barcode. I was first… special", gasped Joshua.

"What did I do to deserve this?" groaned Alec and zapped Joshua again. Then he turned to Max and tossed the wand away. "I'm sorry, Max. There's no other way", murmured Alec and pulled out the knife.

"Alec…" gasped Max. 

He kneeled over her and held up the knife. "I don't want to die", he whispered, seeing her eyes full of pain and hesitating. He was about to kill one of his kind. Of course, Max was a pain in the ass and didn't bring him anything but trouble, but still she was an X5… Then he stabbed…

_**End of flashback **_

"One more", mumbled Alec to the bartender. He was starting to feel the effect of the amount of scotch he had consumed and that was just what he needed.__

_**Flashback**_

"Yeah, thought so. Planted a few myself back in the day", said the lab tech, looking at Alec's neck. That was the lab tech that 'helped' Zack escape from Manticore last year. After Manticore went down he decided to lay low for a while and chose Seattle for this purpose. A couple of days ago Lydecker contacted Logan and gave him a lead on some former Manticore employee who knew how to fix Max's seizures permanently so that she wouldn't need Tryptophan anymore. That cost Max 5 grand but it was worth it. "Mind my asking how you ended up with one of these pop guns attached to your brain stem?"

"Because he's a cold-blooded, opportunistic showoff who thought he could run his game on a major bad guy who, it turns out, is an even bigger scumbag that he is. That's about cover it?" grumbled Max, looking at Alec.

"Yeah, that's pretty much how it happened", mumbled Alec not daring to look at Max.

"Oh, before I forget, thanks _so _much for not killing me", said Max as sarcastically as she could.

"Me too", added Joshua, standing behind Max.

"Well, I can disarm it", said the lab tech. "It'll cost you 5 grand."

"That's the only number you know?" Max raised an eyebrow.

"I have only 2500", said Alec, handing him a wad of cash. "I can get you the rest later."

"Need it up front", shook his head the lab tech.

"Where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of cash in the next couple of minutes, huh?" growled Alec, jumping up and pinning the lab tech to the wall by the throat.

"Wait", sighed Max and pulled some money out of her jacket. "You'll pay me back."

"No problem", said Alec with relief and released the man. He sat back down and glanced at his watch. 2 minutes left.

"I'm gonna need money real soon", warned him Max. Alec nodded.

"Decide faster, this guy's not gonna live long unless you want him to die…" said the lab tech.

"That would solve so many problems in my life", murmured Max.

"Max, please", Alec almost pleaded her.

"Okay, okay. Take your money and get this thing out of his head", said Max and handed the money to that extortioner.

A short time later the lab tech was still working with the microexplosive and Alec glanced at his watch. 8 seconds left.

"C'mon, pal, it's not a movie when the bomb is disarmed one second before it explodes", said Alec, trying to hide the quiver in his voice.

"Don't distract me, smart ass", murmured the lab tech and removed the microexplosive. He held it in the air and it popped. Alec jumped up and turned around to look at it.

"Congrats. You're not dead", said the lab tech, grabbed his suitcase and headed for the door. "That's it, I'm otta here." Then he looked at Max. "Sayonara. I hope your seizures are gone."

"You'd better pray they're gone or I'll find you in hell if they're not", warned him Max.

The lab tech waved his hand and left the room.

"I owe you, Max. I know I screwed things…" started Alec.

Max turned around abruptly and stared at him. "Shut up and listen, 'cause I'm only saying this once. This money was for my new bike and… Guess what? I don't have anyone who could lend me money for my new bike…"

"Max, I'll get you the money, I promise", said Alec and went to the door. 

"Just go away, do me a favor, all right?" said Max warily. "I can't even look at you right now."

_**End of flashback **_

"Look, buddy, I think that's enough for you", said bartender, seeing that Alec was about to fall asleep right on the counter.

"Nope", shook his head Alec. "I'm just starting to have funn." 

"Do you have money to pay for your drinks?" wondered the bartender.

Alec giggled. "Money… what a funny word… Do _you_ have money?" He looked at him with a silly smile.

"Pal, I'm serious", said the bartender. "Do you have money?"

"Hey", said Xander, coming up to the bar and sitting down on the stool. "One beer", he nodded to the bartender and then noticed Alec. "What happened to you?" 

"I need money", whimpered Alec and passed out.

"Friend of yours?" the bartender placed the beer in front of Xander.

"Not exactly", shook his head Xander and sipped the beer.

TBC

**A/N** So, what do you think? How about some reviews?  

  
 


	2. Logan Needs Money

**Title: Maxie Needs a New Bike **

**Author: Nefertiry**

**Summary: **Alec, Max and Logan are planning a little scam which includes Xander's life insurance. Their biggest problem is how to 'kill' Xander. And Xander is an Immortal… **Buffy/Dark Angel** crossover + the concept of immortality from '**Highlander'**

**Pairing: **Max/Xander

**Disclaimer**: nothing is mine. Neither the characters of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', nor the characters of 'Dark Angel'. All rights belong to their respective owners.

**Author's Note. **Ok, the deal's like this. This story is in no way connected with other Buffy/DA crossover that I write. Actually, it's a response to UNTALENTEDTKK's challenge in the last chapter of his '**TF2 –And Then We All Threw Up'**. I liked the idea and decided to write it. If anyone wrote a fic with the same theme, then it'll be MY version. 

**Timeline**: early season 2 of DA, after a slightly AU-ish 'Proof of Purchase'. Some events will coincide with the events in the show; some won't (as the story is absolutely AU). Everything that happened to Xander is described in UNTALENTEDTKK's '**The Finals' series. Some things will coincide with the original's story line, some will not. (I'm picking up the storyline from ch. 4 of 'TF2…' and changing some things.)**

**Author's Note 2** To those who really think that Max is gonna be with Xander… Well, you obviously don't have sense of humor :) Read more and you'll see my reasons for this pairing. And this story will be understandable to those who actually read the stories I mentioned in the first A/N. For crying out loud, people, first read '**The Finals'** series. (This note is for SnapDragon, by the way)

**Logan**** Needs Money**

_Same Friday night as in ch.1_

_Logan__'s apartment_

Logan was furious. His electronic equipment, the only thing that could compete with Max as his Passion #1 was dead - dead as a doornail, fried as a toast in the toaster. The power surge in the electric grid was so strong that it left half of the city without electricity and fried his computers right in the middle of 'Eyes Only' broadcast.

He fell on the couch and grabbed his head. "What did I do to deserve this?" he groaned.

If only he knew what had caused that power surge…

_Three hours earlier_

After a tiresome day Xander was pedaling home, dreaming about some sleep, but his dream wasn't meant to come true. He stopped near the shop not far from TC and bought some ham hocks and hotdogs for Joshua. And when he exited the shop he felt _it_. The Quickening.

"Fuck", cursed Xander silently and looked around, trying to see the Immortal who was giving him that vibe. The street was empty. "Huh, weird", shrugged Xander and went to his bike when a figure clad in long black trench coat appeared between him and his bicycle.

"I challenge you", said the stranger.

"Oh, man", moaned Xander. "Maybe I should wear a sign 'do not disturb' or something", he murmured. "Look, I'm not an active Game player, ok? I just want to go home and get some sleep."

"I do not accept rejection", said the stranger calmly. "En garde!" He drew a long sword from under his coat.

"Will you fight with an unarmed man?" Xander raised an eyebrow. 

"No, I'm a man of honor", the man lowered his sword. "I'll meet you in two hours at this place", he gave Xander a piece of paper with the address. "Come armed and we'll fight. If you don't come you'll disgrace yourself and I will hunt you down and kill you."

"Gee, that's interesting", smirked Xander. "Did you pick this place beforehand?" he waved the piece of paper in the air.

"That shouldn't trouble you", the man replied and turned around. "Remember, in two hours. Armed. If you don't come…" he said not looking at the young Immortal.

"Yeh, yeh, I know, I'll disgrace myself and you'll find me and kill me", snorted Xander and mounted his bike. "Don't worry, I'm not a chicken."

The man went down the street and Xander pedaled in the opposite direction, cursing the moment when he decided to buy food in that shop. If he hadn't he wouldn't have been spotted by that Immortal and… 'Argh, it was inevitable. Sooner or later I'd meet one of them and would have to fight. Too bad that it happened sooner', thought Xander while he was driving through the streets of Seattle towards Terminal City.

_Terminal__City___

_An hour later_

"Xander, thank you for the food", said Joshua entering Xander's apartment. "Why do you need this sword?" wondered the big transgenic, seeing the Wakizashi sword in his hand.

"To defend myself", replied Xander, hiding the sword in the scabbard under his long coat. Then he came up to Joshua and hugged him. "Bye, Josh, and in case I don't return, you've been a good friend", he said, letting go of the big transgenic.

Joshua stared at him not understanding what came over Xander and why he was saying he might not return.

Xander took the keys to his Porsche and went to the door.

_An abandoned building near __Seattle__ power plant_

_Another hour later_

"I'm here", shouted Xander entering the empty one-storey building. Probably it used to be a warehouse as there were no walls, just one huge room. It was dark, only the center was illuminated by the bright light coming from powerful halogen lights placed in a circle. "Heh, he even prepared a playground", snorted Xander entering the circle of light.

He didn't get any response. "I'm here!" shouted Xander as loudly as he could.

"Good, good", said the man stepping into the circle of light and drawing his sword. "I knew Kaja could never train a coward."

"Kaja?" 

"Yes, she trained you, remember?" said the man mockingly. "She was a beautiful woman and one of the best players of the Game." He sounded almost sad, but his blue eyes were cold as ice when he looked at Xander.

"_WAS_?" gasped Xander, drawing his sword and taking a fighting stance.

"Yes, I killed her", replied the man nonchalantly, but also took a fighting stance. "Her quickening was amazing and when she died I found out about you, that you have a very powerful quickening even though you are an absolutely fresh Immortal."

"Did you know her?" asked Xander through gritted teeth. This man was starting to annoy him but he wanted to know more about his mysterious teacher.

"Oh, yes, very well", smiled the man smugly. "She was my wife 200 years ago. So, are we gonna fight or not?" 

"Wait, what's the hurry?" said Xander. "You'll have time to kill me."

"True", shrugged the man, but didn't lower his sword. Neither did Xander. 

"How old are you?" asked Xander, not taking his eyes away from the man, waiting for an attack.

"Oh, I'm old, very old", said the man with a half-smile. 

"But still…" insisted Xander.

"I'm 2 thousand years old", said the man with pride.

"Are you the oldest Immortal?" wondered Xander, moving slowly to the right. The man noticed his movement and moved to the left.

"No, the oldest Immortal is 5 thousand years old and his name is Methos, but he's more a legend, than an actual living person", replied the Immortal.

"Do you have a name?" asked Xander, moving slowly.

"I've had thousands of names but you can call me Lucius", replied the old Immortal, copying every movement of his young opponent. Two Immortals circled round each other ready for an attack.

"Well, at least I'll know the name of the man who'll take my head", smirked Xander, hiding his nervousness under sarcasm. "How old was Kaja?"

"A little younger than me, about 1800 years old. I was her teacher, just like she was yours", said Lucius.

"And you killed your own student. What kind of honor, if you _are_ a man of honor, would allow that?"

"She challenged me, we fought, I won", replied Lucius. "In the end there can be only one. And it's gonna be me." With these words he attacked Xander.

*

The fight had been going for half an hour and during the fight Xander and Lucius somehow managed to destroy all halogen lamps that lit their 'playground'.

"Outside", said Lucius when darkness wrapped them.

"Okay", breathed out Xander and ran outside.

The night was clear and full moon gave enough light for the Immortals to see each other. Besides, the lights from the power plant gave them some additional illumination.

The fight continued and Xander felt he was losing it. Lucius's movements were precise and smooth and Xander had a strange feeling of déjà vu; he remembered his trainings with Kaja. But his experience couldn't be compared with Lucius's – one accidentally (not in the fight) killed Immortal/the Watchers' Council hired assassin and a month of training against two thousand years of the active participation in the Game. It was obvious who was meant to go home and who was meant to lose his head. 

And again Powers that Be messed with the course of things. Someone above must've liked Xander very much and gave him a chance to win this fight. How? 

The area of Seattle power plant wasn't a usual route for the hoverdornes zooming in the air space above Seattle, but by some twist of fate or glitch in the drone's navigation software one of them appeared right above the fighting Lucius and Xander.

"What the heck is that?" exclaimed Lucius who hadn't seen these things before and for a brief moment his attention turned away from Xander. Then next moment Xander's sword swooshed in the air and Lucius's head detached from the body. With a soft 'thump' it landed on the ground and rolled a couple of feet.

"Well, it wasn't very fair but I never said I'd play by the rules", murmured Xander falling on his knees from exhaustion. But it wasn't over yet. He had to take his prize, the Quickening of another Immortal. 

Xander remembered his first Quickening – his feelings when he saw that man's whole life, his every victim and his every thought. That wasn't a very pleasant thing… "Daaaaammn!!!" shouted Xander when the Quickening began. 

Lucius's body lifted in the air and electricity started to crackle around the body. The first lightning hit Xander and his body arched. He spread his arms and yelled half from pain and half from the amount of energy that was filling him. Again Xander saw every Immortal and human Lucius had killed during those 2 thousand years. Good Immortals and bad Immortals; women and men; people of different nations and races…

While Xander was getting his prize everything around him was raging. Huge bolts of lightning hitting everything they could hit, sparkles flying around, shattered glass in the windows of the old warehouse. One of the bolts hit the high-voltage line at the power plant and caused the power surge in the system…

_Logan__'s apartment_

Logan was lying on the couch grieving for his lost electronic equipment and praying that the hard discs with all information hadn't been damaged. "What am I gonna do now?" he whimpered. "I don't have money to buy the new equipment…"

Then he stood up and came up to the bar. But he found only a couple of bottles of red wine and a bottle of Chardonnay. And he needed something much stronger than wine. 

Logan sighed, put on the jacket and took the car keys. He needed to get drunk and if he smashed his crappy Lada while driving home drunk, so be it.

_Crash_

When Logan entered the bar he saw Max and OC at the table and Alec at the bar. He didn't want to join the girls at the table, so he just went to the bar and sat not far from Alec. Alec didn't even notice him; he was drowning his misery in scotch.

"Double vodka, straight", said Logan to the bartender.

*

If it took Alec two hours and a couple of bottles of scotch to get drunk, for Logan it was only half and hour and three double vodkas that made him dead drunk. And right at that moment when both of them reached the desired condition the third character joined them - Xander.

_**Flashback**_

After the fight with Lucius Xander went home, which made Joshua incredibly happy as he seriously worried about his building-mate. "You're back!" exclaimed the big transgenic running into Xander's apartment and squeezing him in his firm grip.

"Yes, Joshua, I'm back", hissed Xander. He wasn't afraid of dying of suffocation, he just didn't like the moment of resurrection. THAT was unpleasant, to put it mildly. "Let me go, please."

Joshua let go of Xander and smiled widely. "I'm glad you're back", growled the dog-man and clapped Xander on the shoulder.

"Easy, buddy, I don't need a broken shoulder", winced Xander rubbing his shoulder. "You know, I think I should get some drink, ok?"

"Ok", nodded Joshua vigorously.

"Ok", smiled Xander and went to the bedroom to get a jacket. He decided not to take the sword with him as he thought he had fat chances meeting the second Immortal during one night.

_**End of flashback**_

Xander came up to the bar and ordered one beer when he noticed Alec practically lying on the counter with the stupidest expression on his face. "What happened to you?" asked Xander.

"I need money", whimpered Alec and passed out.

The bartender placed the beer in front of Xander. "Friend of yours?" he jerked his chin towards Alec.

"Not exactly", shook his head Xander and sipped his beer. He looked around trying to see some familiar faces and the first face he saw was Logan's. Logan was in the same condition as Alec – stinking drunk.

He stood up from his stool and approached Logan. "Hey, man, are you alright?" asked Xander sympathetically.

"I'mmm drunk", said Logan with a goofy grin.

"Why are you drunk? Is something wrong between you and Max?" 

"Nooo, Maxie's ok", grinned Logan, waving the glass in the air and spilling some vodka on Xander. "Oops, sorry", giggled Logan, trying to wipe the drink from Xander's leather jacket.

"So, what happened?" wondered Xander sitting down on the stool next to Logan.

"My computers fried and I need to buy new ones. But I don't have any money", whimpered Logan, gulped down his vodka and passed out.

"Great", murmured Xander looking at Alec and Logan. "Both need money and both are totally blasted."

TBC

**A/N **This evening at Crash isn't over yet ;) There's more to come in the next chapter and don't forget to review. Oh, and feel free to read and review my other stories even two of them are finished I'd like to know what you think of them.


	3. Max Needs Money

**Title: Maxie Needs a New Bike **

**Author: Nefertiry**

**Summary: **Alec, Max and Logan are planning a little scam which includes Xander's life insurance. Their biggest problem is how to 'kill' Xander. And Xander is an Immortal… **Buffy/Dark Angel** crossover + the concept of immortality from '**Highlander'**

**Pairing: **Max/Xander (**a/n** don't freak out because of this pairing. In further chapters you'll see why I did this. And for all Max/Logan shippers – don't worry, I'm not gonna break this couple.)

**Disclaimer**: nothing is mine. Neither the characters of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', nor the characters of 'Dark Angel'. All rights belong to their respective owners.

**Timeline**: early season 2 of DA, after a slightly AU-ish 'Proof of Purchase'. Some events will coincide with the events in the show; some won't (as the story is absolutely AU). Everything that happened to Xander is described in UNTALENTEDTKK's '**The Finals' series. Some things will coincide with the original's story line, some will not. (I'm picking up the storyline from ch. 4 of 'TF2…' and changing some things.)**

**Max Needs Money**

_Crash_

_Still the same Friday night as in ch.1 and ch.2_

Max and OC were sitting at their usual table and watching how Alec was getting drunk.

"What's with him?" asked OC, gesturing with her beer to Alec.

"I don't know and don't want to know", shrugged Max and sipped her beer, looking at Alec's back. Then she turned to Cindy. "I can't even look at him right now. And he still owes me money."

"Oh, come on, boo. He'll give you your money", said OC reassuringly.

"When? In the next millennium?" said Max through gritted teeth. "And that guy who could sell me a new Ninja now probably will sell it to somebody else."

"Yeah, but it's not his fault that your old Ninja is gone", shrugged OC. 

"Don't remind me", grumbled Max. "First I had to drive some crappy bike that couldn't even remotely compare to my baby, but then even that crappy little Honda was ruined after that idiot that was chasing the bleached idiot hit it."

_**Flashback**_

_4 days ago_

Max was driving her little Honda through empty night streets of Seattle and cursing two certain persons responsible for the fact that she had to drive this crappy bike instead of her beloved Ninja Kawasaki. Of course, those two persons were Xander and Alec. Who else? 

Xander was responsible for becoming the target in that wacky incident during which Logan lost his car and Max almost got killed, first fighting with that strange and very strong girl who somehow knew Xander from his past and then with that really creepy man who just couldn't die like all normal people were supposed to. Instead, he kept coming back to life after countless number of times Max and Logan had shot him. But when Xander cut off his head with combat knife the man finally died and THEN a strange thing happened. His headless corpse produced some kind of electricity which entered Xander and everything around exploded. Well, not literally exploded, but buildings around were seriously damaged. Anyway, in all that turmoil Max completely forgot about her bike which she had been forced to leave somewhere in the quarantine area of Terminal City while she tried to figure out what kind of a transgenic Xander was. Of course, when she returned to get her bike it wasn't there. 

As for Alec… well, Alec chose the 'perfect time' to get in trouble and need her help. On the very same day when she was ready to buy a new Ninja she had to pay that sleazy lab tech for the removal of the explosive from Alec's neck… Even for that only reason Max was ready to hate him.

She was driving automatically deeply engrossed in her thoughts when something hit her and she flew off her bike and landed flat on her back. "What the fuck!" cursed Max, lying on her back and looking around, trying to see what had hit her. She saw a man lying not far from her. He was lying prone and seemed to be not breathing. Max rose to her feet and came up to him. "Hey, are you ok?" she leaned to him.

The man rolled on his back, opened his eyes and saw the girl, standing near him. "You…" he growled and jumped to his feet, trying to grab her. Max jumped back and stared at him. "What the heck are you doing?" He seemed strangely familiar. Oh, yeah, it was that guy from the Mustang…

"You, bitch, stole my car", growled the man, lunging at Max.

"I had to get to Seattle", smirked Max, punching him in the nose.

The horrible sound of screeching metal behind Max made her turn around and yell from anger. "Nooooo!" 

An old beaten up Buick hit her bike and it flew several meters away and crashed against the wall.

"My bike!!!"

"Spike!"

"Angel!"

Three yells sounded as one. 

Max ran up to her wrecked Honda, Angel stormed out of the car and ran to Spike who was holding his bleeding nose and shouting obscenities about Max and all her relatives.

"I told you I'd find you", hissed Angel, drawing a stake from his pocket.

"Sod off, you old wanker!!" shouted Spike, licking the blood from his hands. "If this bitch hadn't stolen my car you'd never had found me."

"Who are you calling bitch here?" asked Max with unveiled menace in her voice, coming up to them.

"Miss, you should get out of here" warned her Angel, not taking his eyes off Spike. "It's not safe for you to be here."

"You think?" said Max sarcastically. "Wow, I haven't noticed."

"Get out of here", said Angel. 

"And how am I supposed to do that?" she wondered, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head. "My bike is ruined and I don't see any taxi around here." Then she looked around. "On second thought…" She ran up to Angel's Buick and jerked the door open. "This will do."

Max got into the car and started the engine. "So long, suckers", she said, seeing the astonished face of the dark-haired man who was staring at the car. The blonde man smirked. "Join the club, moron." The screech of tires and roar of motor told Angel that he had just lost the car. All he could do was stare at the red tail lights of the car that was quickly driving away.

_**End of flashback**_

"You stole the guy's car…" laughed Cindy. "I thought you didn't like cars."

"Yes, I don't like to drive something that has more than two wheels, but I didn't have much choice", shrugged Max. "Do you want this car?"

"No, it's a piece of junk", shook her head OC. "But you could sell it.  You could use a couple of hundred bucks after what happened today."

Max winced. "I'm not worried about the money - after all, Normal didn't pay us much. I'm more worried about the sector pass."

"After all these threats Normal finally did it…" drawled Cindy. "Don't worry, boo, he'll regret about that."

Max smiled sadly. "Y'know, I never thought I'd say that but I'll miss Jam Pony, the guys there. But most of all I'll miss my sector pass…"

_**Flashback**_

This day promised to be like the other days – Normal's 'bip, bip, bip', his bitching about lazy workers and undelivered packages, the usual stuff that became a part of her life.

Jam Pony

"Well, hello, missy-miss", said Normal sarcastically, seeing Max enter the building and approach the dispatch center. "You're only 5 minutes late. In your case it's on time. That must be a record for the Guinness book!" 

"Normal, aren't you tired of all this?" said Max tilting her head and looking at her boss. "Get used to me coming to work late or not coming at all. And get used to the thought that working for you isn't the dream of every young person in Seattle. Now, do you have anything for me?" she said with a charming smile while Normal was looking at her with his mouth agape.

"Oh, I think I'll get used to YOUR NOT COMING TO WORK AT ALL!"  shouted Normal so loudly that everyone at Jam Pony stared at him. "You're FIRED!"

"Yeah, whatever", snorted Max. "Like you don't fire other messengers about five times a day."

"No, this time it's for real", hissed Normal. "This time you're fired permanently. So, get your scrawny ass otta here and I don't want to see you ever in my life again."

"Hey, Normal, chill", Xander came up to the dispatch center and leaned against it. "What did she do to you that you're firing her?"

"Do you want to get fired too, Alexander?" Normal looked at him.

"No, no", Xander backed away. "But why do you have to fire Max?"

"Yeah, Normal, what bit your ass that you had to fire Max?" asked OC narrowing her eyes.

Normal looked at the crowd that gathered around Max. She had a lot of supporters, but Normal had to show them who the boss here was. "If you, morons, don't get packages and get your asses on your bikes in the next two minutes, you'll all follow your friend. Bip, bip, bip, losers."

As much as Jam Pony crew loved Max they had to take the packages and get on the runs.

"Cindy, go", whispered Max to her best friend who didn't pay attention to Normal's words and stayed with Max. "I don't want you to lose your job. Go, I'll be fine."

"I'll see you tonight at Crash, boo", said OC, giving Max a small smile and then a venomous glare to Normal, took the package and left the building.

Without a word Max went to the exit. "And where do you think you're going?" she heard Normal's voice behind her back. She turned around and stared at Normal. "Either you have split personalities or a selective amnesia", smirked Max. "You've just fired me."

"Yes, I know. Now, the sector pass." He stretched his hand to take it. "You don't work here anymore. So, you have no right to use Jam Pony ID."

"Damn you, Normal!" growled Max. "How am I supposed to get through the check points without it?"

"It's not my problem anymore", shook his head Normal, grinning evilly. "Beat it."

'I want to kill him. Right now, with my bare hands', thought Max grimly, feeling her predator instincts wake up in her. She looked at Normal as if he were a big fat gray rat, no, a nasty fat cockroach, that she wanted to squash. 

"Why are you staring at me?" asked Normal suspiciously. He didn't like the way Max was looking at him. 

Max cast a 'you're not worthy of my attention' look at him and decided that she had enough of Normal for today.

"And don't take the bicycle with you", shouted Normal to her. "It's the property of Jam Pony." 

_**End of flashback**_

"What did I do to deserve this?" moaned Max, dropping her head on her hands. "First my Ninja, then my Honda, and now I lost my job, the sector pass and the bicycle."

"Everything's gonna be ok", said softly OC, patting Max on the shoulder.

"I need money, Cindy", whimpered Max, raising her head and looking at her. "I guess I'll have to get back to stealing."

"What's with them?" murmured Cindy, looking at something behind Max's back.

"With whom?" asked Max, turning to see what Cindy was talking about. She saw Alec and Logan almost lying on the counter and Xander sitting near them and looking rather confused.

The girls stood up from their table and went to the bar.

"Xander, what happened to them?" wondered Max, seeing Logan and Alec in a very miserable condition.

"They're drunk and looks like they both need money", replied Xander.

"And who doesn't?" snorted Max. "I see neither of them is in condition to drive, so I'll drive Logan home and can you drive Alec?"

"Why me?" scowled Xander. "Just leave him here or let him drive. I won't miss him if he gets killed in a car crash", shrugged Xander who didn't have any warm feelings towards Alec.

"I heard that", mumbled Alec.

"Xander, please. I don't like Alec as much as you do, but I can't let him die. At least not until he gives me my money back", said Max.

"That's very sweet of you, Maxie", murmured Alec.

"Fine", sighed Xander. "Let's go, you drunken piece of shit", he said to Alec 

"When I sober up a little, I'll show you 'piece of shit'", said Alec, getting off the stool and standing on wobbly legs. 

"C'mon, Logan, get up", said Max softly, trying to lift Logan from his stool. 

"Noo, mommy, I don't want to go to school today", mumbled Logan with his eyes shut. He grabbed the counter and didn't want to move.

"I'm not your mommy, Logan. Now, be a good boy and get off this stool", said Max, trying hard not to laugh. She had to admit Logan looked pretty ridiculous when he was drunk. She finally peeled him off the counter and helped him stand in a relatively vertical position.

"Oopsy, someone is shaking the floor", giggled Logan, waving his hands for balance. He almost fell but she caught him.

"How much did he drink?" asked Max, with Logan hanging on her right shoulder.

"Three double vodkas", replied the bartender. "And he hasn't paid for them, by the way."

"I'll pay." Max fumbled in her pockets looking for some money. "Here." She gave him the money. Then she felt that Logan relaxed and put his head on her shoulder. "Logan, move your feet. I'm not a freaking superwoman to carry you on me." She gave him a nudge on the ribs.

"I'm awake, I'm awake", Logan's head jerked up, but his gaze was still bleary.

"Do you at least remember how to walk?" smirked Alec who had a very high level of alcohol in his blood but looked much better than Logan, thanks to his transgenic metabolism.

"You haven't paid for your drinks either", the bartender pointed at Alec. 

Alec fished out some cash from the back pocket of his jeans. "Will this do?"

The bartender nodded. 

Alec moved to the exit - slowly, trying to keep some sort of balance, but without anybody's help, unlike Logan, who couldn't walk on his own.

*

"Nice wheels", whistled Alec, seeing Xander's Porsche.

"If you puke in the car, you'll have to clean it up", warned him Xander, getting in car.

Max and Cindy carefully led Logan outside where they faced a dilemma – whether they should take Logan's Lada or Angel's Buick, which actually became Max's.

"I don't know how to drive this car", whispered Max, looking at the 'wonder' of Russian car industry. The 'wonder' had an incredible and indescribable color – something between orange and yellow. That color was a serious abuse to human eye and Max started to doubt Logan's sanity for choosing the car of this color.

"Let's take the Buick", suggested OC and Max nodded. "Yes, at least its color is less … hmm…"

"Ugly?" said Cindy.

"Something like that", laughed Max. "Help me load Logan in the car, please."

The girls loaded mumbling Logan in the backseat, Max took the driver's seat and OC got in the passenger's seat.

"Your boy's gonna have a hell of a hangover", chuckled Cindy when Max started the engine.

"Can't wait to see it", snickered Max and drove off.

*

_Xander's__ Porsche_

Xander was driving the car and casting glances at Alec from time to time. He feared that Alec might get sick and throw up in the car, but his worries were groundless. Alec sat quietly with his eyes closed and didn't show any signs that he was feeling sick.

"Where to?" asked Xander.

"What?" Alec's eyes snapped open and he looked around.

"Where do you live?" 

"Sector 6, 165 Eagle, Motel 'Space Needle'", replied Alec.

Xander snickered. "Nice name."

*

"Is this your motel?" asked Xander when an hour later he stopped the car at the address Alec had given to him.

"Looks like", whispered Alec, suddenly getting pale. "Perfect, just fucking perfect."

TBC

**A/N** I have nothing against Honda motorcycles, but I had to give Max some bike while her Ninja was gone :) and Honda was the only thing I could come up with.

Reviews pleas.


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